


Kepler

by MsSpockTOS



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, F/M, Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-13
Updated: 2018-11-13
Packaged: 2019-08-23 07:12:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16614323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsSpockTOS/pseuds/MsSpockTOS
Summary: Something fun I wrote for my Fiction Writing Class





	Kepler

The small, mountain town of Kepler, West Virginia was anything but normal. Its one main street was littered with family businesses, restaurants that had been around since 1934, and the one Pizza Hut which was the only chain in town. It had a population of about 2,000 and everyone knew everything about the people in town; it was very hard to keep a secret in Kepler. Kepler was nestled right in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains, and parts of town embraced the cryptid side of things. Local businesses made their livings out of selling tourists Bigfoot sightings and blurry Mothman pictures. However, what stood out about Kepler, West Virginia, was how exceptionally dull this small town was.  


Students started in Kindergarten with a class of 40. When they graduated high school, they graduated with a class of 40, give or take a few. One or two students would drop out and once in a blue moon, a new family would move into town and give the school a new kid. New families did not move to town often though, since many families in America didn’t even know Kepler exists. Come to think of it, not that many families ever moved out of Kepler either. Most of the families in Kepler had been there since their great-great-grandparents built a house there, and they would be damned if they were going to move.  


The leaders on the Town Council were always feuding about what kind of town Kepler should be. Half wanted to lean into the cryptid lore that surrounded the city; they wanted to set up more “tourist traps” around Kepler, and really buy into the idea that Bigfoot is prowling the outskirts of the town. The other half, however, wanted to gentrify Main Street, as well as advertise the National Forest, and make it more welcoming for people passing by. They wanted to make Kepler somewhere to move to, and settle down. Either way, both sides wanted to make Kepler a place for people to visit, a place for people to plant their roots.  


Even with its inescapable plainness, Kepler was still different than many towns. There are not many towns where people claim to see cryptids and there are even fewer towns that embrace it. The fact that there were people who wanted to claim that Bigfoot was out lurking in the woods of the Monongahela National Forest, which was partially just inside Kepler city limits, made it the perfect town for what was about to happen. Hardly anyone came into town and residents never really left, but it still had its effects on the neighboring towns.  


Although Kepler was well attached to the neighboring towns, it was well cut off from the rest of the world. Kepler fell right in the middle of what is known as the National Radio Quiet Zone. Any type of signal was interrupted and broken up, be it radio, cellular, or otherwise. All buildings in Kepler used primarily landlines for phones and Internet and communication over any type of wireless device was full of static and short sentence fragments. This allowed Kepler to be in contact, but not as plugged in as other cities across the United States.  


The folks in Kepler, West Virginia came to know that day as “The Fall”. It started just like any other day. The park rangers in the National Forest woke up with the Sun and took their routine laps around the park and its camping grounds. Leo Tarkesian opened up his General Store at 8 am on the dot, the same way he has for the past 23 years. One by one, the businesses in Kepler groggily opened, from the ski lift that took people up the mountainside, to the singular Pizza Hut. Kepler was open and ready for business, another day with not much to do.  
#  


There was no sound when The Fall happened. Duck Newton, one of the park rangers, was doing his rounds, walking the extensive trails that make up the Monongahela National Forest. Duck was a rather unimpressive fellow, but just like the rest of Kepler, his normality is what made him unique, at least in the mind of an outsider. He had been a burnout and spent most of his time in high school wandering around the forests. Naturally, when he graduated high school, he picked up the first park ranger job that he could find, just to stay in the woods. Duck had hiked these trails a thousand and one times; he knew every inch of the forest and its terrain, but today...it was different.  


Duck knew this part of the trail was supposed to be dirt, and flat as a board. Now, the whole trail was covered in these shiny pebbles that gave off the same rainbow iridescence that you would find in the parking lot of an auto shop, and new bumps and hills had been molded out of the earth. Duck stopped and looked around, and the rest of the forest looked the same way. Usually, this time of year, the forest floor was littered with pine needles, but now it was covered with these small rocks. He didn’t know what to make of it, so he kept on, hoping maybe to find the source of this. After a bit, the trail took a bend to the right. and Duck paused. Down the trail to the right, the earth leveled off and the pebbles slowly disappeared. However, to the left, Duck saw that these mounds and rainbow-ish pebbles continued, following a straight path from the trail. As he decided to follow the strangeness, Duck left the formed trail, trying to get closer to the source. As he walked throughout the forest, the ground was covered in more of these pebbles and the ground itself was developing more mounds.  


After about a half hour, he reached the culprit. Unbeknownst to everyone else, a large meteorite had landed in the middle of the forest. The rock that made up this meteorite had the same rainbow sheen that the pebbles he had passed, and the ground had been distorted to form hills, almost as if they had been crafted by the meteorite to protect itself. Duck carefully clambered over these dirt “shields,” to get a better look at it. Other than the reflective rainbow, there was not much else on this large rock that commandeered his attention. He slid back down the hill and remained sitting once he reached the ground. He reached over to his belt and pulled the walkie-talkie off of its holder.  


“This is Newton, badge number 136. I’ve got a...weird space rock in the middle of the forest. It’s about a quarter of a mile off of the North Trail at mile marker 10.3, so it’s somewhat hidden. I need backup, over.”  


Duck lifted his finger off of the button and heard nothing but static from the receiver. He slumped back against the mound of dirt. Most of the time, it was nice living in a Radio Quiet Zone. Kepler was its own town, cut off from all of the latest fads, movements, and whatever nonsense was sweeping the nation. At times like this, however, it was really fucking inconvenient. Duck kept pushing the button the receiver, practically shouting just to get someone to listen. Eventually, he got some response.  


“Duck….Pigeon….hear...repeat,” sputtered the voice on the other end, in between bursts of static.  


“Oh Pigeon, thank goodness. I’m a little ways off of the North Trail at Mile Marker 10.3, and I found a weird rock. Can you or someone else please mosey on down here and check it out.”  


“Heard...send...shortly….wait.”  


“Over.” Duck confirmed into the radio. He didn’t know how long it would take for help to reach him, but he figured his best bet would be to walk to where he diverged from the trail and wait for help to arrive, however long that would take. The walk seemed to drag on forever, even though it was the same quarter-mile stretch he just walked, not even thirty minutes ago. Eventually, Duck reached the trail and took a quick look around, trying to find a sign that another park ranger was close by. He saw no such sign, so he pulled himself up onto a branch of a nearby tree. His feet dangled off of the ground a little bit, but he was high up enough to take note of how particularly alive the forest looked today.  


It wasn’t long before Duck heard the motorized hum of a Park Ranger Service Vehicle, which was the office’s fancy way of saying “golf cart.” Duck dropped down from his spot in the tree to greet whoever had driven out to meet him. As the Service Vehicle approached, he could tell by the number that was emblazoned on the side of the cart that Pigeon had come out to meet him after their choppy discussion.  


“Hey Duck. I couldn’t quite make out what you were going on about, but your voice sounded shaky, so I thought I should get over here ASAP.”  


“Yeah, I couldn’t really hear you either. But I do appreciate you hustling on over.” Duck replied. “Yeah, it’s right over here.” he said, as he turned and headed towards the meteorite. Pigeon followed him, keeping right along side, and trying to engage Duck in some sort of small talk.  


As they got closer, Pigeon fell silent. Duck turned towards her and saw that she was just looking around, awestruck at the rainbow pebbles that littered the ground. They reached the meteorite, and Duck noticed that the walls of dirt that were shielding the meteorite had grown about a foot. When Pigeon saw the meteorite, she stood there for a few moments, entranced by the different colors that were reflecting off of the large rock. She even walked up to tap on the rock, possibly to make sure that it was sturdy or just, real.  


Duck and Pigeon got the roll of caution tape out of the back of the Service Vehicle and taped off around the meteorite. They didn’t know what else to do, so they headed back to the main station to drop off the Service Vehicle and report what they saw, and they headed home, since it was the end of their shifts. Pigeon had a great night of sleep, dreaming of the rainbow world that this rock was sure to have come from. Duck, on the other hand, spent the whole night tossing and turning, wondering what the purpose of this rock was and how it would affect the rest of the forest.  


#  


Duck called out from work the next two days. The first day was because he felt sick, and the second day was just for good measure. He wondered if this had anything to do with the meteorite, but when he called the station, Pigeon answered the phone. She wasn’t feeling anything, so it was just a coincidence then. On his second “vacation” day, Duck was itching to get out and walk around, so he decided to go out for lunch. He went to the sub shop that was just across the street from his apartment. He ordered his usual, a meatball parm and a large Coke.  


He sat in his usual seat, the half-booth, half-table located towards the front of the restaurant. It was the only table that had a light directly above, but today, the light was out. Duck sat down in this dark-ish spot in the restaurant, and ate quietly. “It’s kind of weird to be eating at the only dim table. I wish this light wasn’t broken.” As soon as he finished his thought, the light flickered and turned on, shining along with the other lights as if it was never turned off. Duck looked up at the light for a few seconds, but brushed it off as a faulty wire. He finished his meal and headed home, too busy thinking about that light to notice the small changes that were happening in the world around him.  


#  


Once he got home, Duck decided the best thing would be for him to clear his head. He turned the water on and let it run for a bit. Once he got under the water, he turned up the temperature to as hot as he could stand, and let the water wash his thoughts away. He stood in the shower for a while, more than enough time for every mirror and the window in his bathroom to be covered in a thick layer of steam. Since he just ate lunch, Duck figured he should brush his teeth, so he took a hand towel and wiped off a small patch of steam off of the mirror. What he saw made him drop the hand towel in horror and take several steps back, tripping over and tumbling into his bathtub.  


Shakily, Duck stood up and and slowly walked over to his bathroom counter that had an inset mirror. He propped himself up on the counter and just stared at his reflection. Staring back at him, he saw the same rugged face that he has always seen. However, instead of his typical, brown eyes, the eyes that he saw staring back at him were bright orange. He blinked rapidly for a few seconds, rubbed his eyes really hard, and even tried washing them out with water, but no matter what he did, his orange eyes kept staring right back at him.  


#  


Duck spent the rest of the night avoiding any reflective surface. He went to bed a few hours before his typical time, and the last thing that crossed his mind before he fell asleep was how he hoped that this was all a dream. When he awoke the next morning, the first thing that he did was check his eyes. When they were still the same orange color, he stared back at himself for a bit. “I have no idea what is happening between this and that light yesterday. Maybe it has something to do with that damn rock.” He sighed and started to get dressed for work. “I gotta get to work and talk to Pigeon. She was there, hell she even touched it, and she seems fine enough.” On his way to work, he stopped by the local pharmacy to pick up a pair of sunglasses, since orange was quite an auspicious eye color.  


No one really said anything at the station. Everyone engaged in the usual small talk, but no one asked why he was wearing such dark sunglasses inside; that was too forthcoming for anyone in Kepler. Duck made his way to see Pigeon; if anyone knew what he was going through, he thought it would be her. He found her in a small hallway near the back of the station, going through an old filing cabinet. He called out to her, and he saw her smile at the sound of his voice. She turned up to face him, and the second her bright, blue eyes landed on him, her smile quickly faded from her lips.  


“Oh, so it’s happened to you too, huh?” she said gravely. “I thought it was just me, but it makes sense that you would be affected too.”  


“I don’t what you mean, Pigeon. I just picked up some new sunglasses.” he said in a loud voice. Duck looked around to make sure that no one was listening to them, and Pigeon must have gotten the signal.  


Pigeon grabbed his hand suddenly and pulled him into a small room off of the hallway. It was an old utility closet, and judging by the amount of ants and dust bunnies he saw flitting across the floor, Duck guessed it had been not used to store stuff in a while.  


“I know about your eyes, Newton. They’re orange, aren’t they?”  


Duck took his sunglasses off, and Pigeon got closer to get a really good look at what was going on with his eyes.  


“Hey, at least it looks good on you.” she chuckled, trying to make light of the situation.  


“How did you know about my eyes? Yours look exactly the same.”  


Pigeon reaches her hands up to her left eye, and pulled a contact lens off of its surface. She looked back at him, her one orange eye burning a hole right through him. She put her contact back in and blinked a few times to readjust it.  


“I think mine turned before yours. I first noticed it right as I got home after we saw it. I got the contacts soon after, and resumed my life as normal. I never take them out, helps me to forget. I think mine changed so fast because I touched it.”  


Duck went to say something and paused. He debated on whether or not he should tell her about what had happened at the sub place. They were in this together now, and that meant he would have to be honest with her.  


“I turned a light on,” he blurted out.  


“What do you mean? Like with a switch?” she asked, sounded really confused at this confession.  


“No, like with my mind. I went down to John’s Sub Shop, and there was a light that was out. I just thought about turning it back on, and it did.”  


“Have you tried it out with other things?”  


“No, I hadn’t thought of it. I tried to forget about it, just like you did.”  


Pigeon walked to a corner of the closet and found an old vacuum that looked like it hadn’t been used in ages. “This ought to do the trick. Try turning this on.”  


“What...are you insane? I can’t control that thing.” However, in the back of his mind, Duck wanted to see if he could actually do it. “I mean, it would be cool if I could turn that vacuum on.”  


With that thought, the vacuum sputtered at first, then roared to life. As soon as Duck worried about other people hearing it, the vacuum shut off. “Holy shit! What does this mean, that I have superpowers now, because of a magic rock?”  


“No, I’m saying we do.” Pigeon held out her hand, and a small orange ball of flame formed in it. With a small finger movement, she flung it to the far wall of the closet, and it caused a small burst, sending everything that was on the shelf flying around the room. Another ball of fire appeared in her hand, and Pigeon snapped, causing it to vanish.  


Astonished, Duck turned around and found an upside-down bucket to use as a seat. “What do we do now?”  


“I dunno. I’ve been seeing some small stuff happening around town, like lights suddenly blacking out and the stuff blowing opposite of the wind. Something’s coming to this town, and I think it has something to do with that damn meteorite we found.” Pigeon had conjured another small flame, and was passing it between her two index fingers, like some kind of new nervous tick she picked up.  


“We should just lay low. We got no idea what’s going on, and with our job, we can at least keep an eye on the rock, while we figure out what is happening in town. The more people that know about it, the easier it will spread around town and cause a panic.”  


All of a sudden, they heard a loud explosion that sounded like it came from the main street of town. They rushed out of the utility closet and made their way to the main bullpen area. Other rangers were running all around the station, grabbing their guns, radios, badges, and anything else they thought would be of some use.  


“What going on out there?” Duck yelled, not at anyone in particular, but just at anyone who would answer.  


“The town’s gone nuts.” a female ranger towards the front yelled. “Reports say we got people flying, people causing wind, and some poor bastard is just on fire in the middle of the street, spouting flames.”  


“The cops called us in as backup just now. We’re moving everyone in to help out.” another ranger yelled.  


Duck and Pigeon looked at one another. Pigeon whispered, “It looks like we’re not going to keep a secret much longer.”  


"Innocent lives are going to be lost here. We have to find a way to stop this. Whatever magic this thing is spouting is going to ruin our whole town.”  


“Let’s get some shit to blow that rock to kingdom come. Maybe that will make it stop…”  


Duck nodded in agreement, and they both snuck out one of the side doors while everyone else was on high-alert, both with some shotgun shells and some gasoline in tow. Little did they know, what they were about to do, was about to make things a whole lot worse.


End file.
